BMC Software Inc.

A World Leading Software & Services Provider

– IT Program Management

The Challenge

A world leading provider of systems software was engaged in multiple technology initiatives that were likely to significantly impact the company’s future performance. The company’s ability to act on those initiatives was being severely hindered by the lack of senior level support and internal processes to assist in reviewing, managing and implementing capabilities to improve the effectiveness of the current PMO. The company had failed to align its IT projects to the overall corporate business strategy. Also, the project intake process did not take into account staffing availability, business risk or budgetary constraints. There was no method to assess the risk of taking on new projects or failing to complete ongoing projects in a timely way. Finally, the company had not developed a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) associated with each project’s life cycle.

The TBI Solution

TBI immediately provided a senior IT executive (25+ years of experience and an ex-CIO) to take over the running of the client’s PMO. His job was to immediately improve the performance of the PMO group, raise the staff’s morale and to reorganize the on-going processes and procedures. Simultaneously, TBI began an organizational IT assessment to develop an overall plan and road map to address risk and improve the PMO’s effectiveness. The tasks included a thorough review of current PMO policies and procedures, interviewing all affected parties (stakeholders, affected business customers and in-scope IT personnel), a review of their work intake and prioritization process, an evaluation of their project status tracking process, a review of their communication process and an evaluation of their current performance metrics. In all, TBI tracked and evaluated 18 separate processes tied to the overall performance of the PMO.

The Results

Among the many tactics and processes that were instituted or amended as a result of this project, TBI helped the customer to implement:

  • The adoption of a COTS approach for new applications to minimize customization.
  • A reduction of legacy applications and technologies that were no longer cost effective.
  • A significant reduction of redundant software tools and systems.
  • A strategy to better balance funding for projects that were strategic, transactional, informational and/or supported infrastructure.
  • The development of a business case process taking into account the TCO for each new project.
  • Standardized requirements definitions for new projects.
  • Development of a PMO Center of Excellence.
  • Leadership training for all Project Managers.
  • Development of metrics for all PMO functions to improve project monitoring.
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